The Asia Cup 2022 tournament will be extremely crucial for former India skipper Virat Kohli. Following IPL 2022, Kohli has featured in only one assignment for India, the tour of England, which unfortunately had ended on a forgettable note with Kohli's struggles with the bat continuing. Having missed the West Indies tour and ongoing Zimbabwe ODIs, Kohli is slated to return for the Asia Cup tournament later this month. But former Pakistan cricketer Danish Kaneria has issued a stern warning to Kohli amid his lack of match practice and with India finding able back-up options.
After resting through the home series against South Africa and tour of Ireland, Kohli returned to score just 12 runs in two T20Is against England and 33 runs in two ODI matches in the tour before being rested for West Indies and Zimbabwe assignment.
Speaking to India Today, Kaneria slammed Kohli for missing so many international matches, which he believes would have helped him return to form. The veteran cricketer opined that Kohli should have instead skipped a few IPL games to gear up for those international fixtures.
“The only thing is Virat Kohli is struggling and the time period has gone too far. It's like three years and all the dilemma. After the 2021 T20 World Cup, he lost his captaincy (in ODIs) and then the board issues and statements came in the media. Too much happened. I think he needs to focus more on cricket, on his batting and if he wants to play for a few more years he needs to perform.” he said.
{{/usCountry}}“The only thing is Virat Kohli is struggling and the time period has gone too far. It's like three years and all the dilemma. After the 2021 T20 World Cup, he lost his captaincy (in ODIs) and then the board issues and statements came in the media. Too much happened. I think he needs to focus more on cricket, on his batting and if he wants to play for a few more years he needs to perform.” he said.
{{/usCountry}}"I think he has done wrong by missing international matches. He should have skipped some IPL games but should not have skipped international cricket because international cricket could have brought him back into the form. The five T20Is against West Indies were crucial for him and he should have come up and played in that series.
"Lack of match practice could impact his performance (at Asia Cup). He hasn't played after the England series. Maybe he could have played domestic cricket in England to get his form back. He will be coming fresh now at Asia Cup. From there we have to see whether he will be able to perform or not. It will be a big pressured game for him. I'm hoping for him to come and put on a big show on a big day with big runs."
The former Pakistan spinner feels that Kohli's name is further making rounds because the fringe players are raising their hand at every opportunity presented hence making the competition within the team stronger.
"Why is Virat's name coming up? It is because there are a bunch of cricketers coming. India is thinking of making a second national team and playing them at the international level. They have Suryakumar (Yadav), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Rahul Tripathi and KL Rahul coming back from injury. So many players to fit in and everybody is performing so well," Kaneria said.